These fungi were growing on a tree stump. I nearly decided not to photograph them, because there were much cooler red fungi on the other side of the stump. But those photos didn’t come out, so boring white fungi are all I have to offer.
Author: Shelly
Tin Roof and Flag
Nests
I thought I posted these here, but I guess not. The other morning, while I was in the shower, Harriet dragged the comforter off the bed, into the living room, and made herself a nest. Miss Brown is all about Teh Comfortables, but it was 5am and a little early for me to find it amusing.
Nest-making is something she does fairly regularly. Her most amazing nest was made from two brand spanking new bags of pine cat litter. I thought for sure that cat litter would be of no interest to her, so I left them sitting beside the couch when I went to work. I came home to a mound of cat litter with a Boxer-shaped depression in the center. Again, not very amusing!
Last week’s nesting was not a singular event. When I got home, this is the sight that greeted me.
She’d dragged two blankets from a Rubbermaid tub in my bedroom into the studio, and built herself a cozy little nest in the middle of my studio floor.
Not bad, considering she doesn’t have opposable thumbs.
Rose of Sharon
I’m not a big Rose of Sharon fan, but as they were the only thing blooming, beggars can’t be choosers. The flowers are pretty enough, but the shrubs are kind of uninspiring.
This particular shrub was uncooperative, too. All the blooms were at the top, which was way above my head. I had to climb half-way into the darned thing, then jump up, grab the branch the flower was on, and pull it down. It wouldn’t have been so bad, except the entire shrub was full of spider webs. O ick. Turns out, jumping up and down from heebie-jeebies while trying to take a picture of something you have to hold still with your hand is not as easy as one might think!
Geodes
Wherever I’ve lived, I’ve always ended up with a small collection of rocks, pieces of wood, bones, and rusted bits of metal on my porch. I pick them up on walks and leave them by the door. Sometimes I use them for art projects, and sometimes I just leave them alone, so I can enjoy looking at them when I come and go.
I think many people do something similar, because most folks I know have a “cool junk heap” outside their houses. The couple I’m cat sitting for are no exception. Their back patio is flanked by two low cinder block walls, and on top of the walls are an assortment of small stones. I liked the way the Virgina creeper twined around them, and since I already had my camera out, I took a few shots of the rock collection.
The most interesting shot didn’t turn out, though, so I’m going to have to give it another try tomorrow. I’m hoping to get humming bird photos, as well (live ones, even!).
Thrush
I found this little fellow on the back steps of the house where I’m cat sitting. I don’t know how he died (hopefully not WNV!), but he was pretty well intact, so I took some photos before moving him to the foot of a tree at the far end of the backyard.
More Faux Lomo Fun
Most of my faux lomoing has been done step-by-step in Photoshop (meaning, without using an action created by someone else). It’s a little time consuming, but it gives you more control. There are a couple of short-cuts, though, that are worth playing around with. One of the Flickr faux lomo groups had a link to Framer, an on-line framing tool, so I thought I’d give the fake Holga 35mm sprocket hole border a try.
Duck
Bleeding Hearts
Dandelion
Spiderwort
Rain on Window Pane
Grave Decorations
Flag Holder, Mount Gilead Cemetery
I mentioned the sort of baffling discussion about grave site offerings and “art.” Well, here are two less extreme examples from the cemetery near my house. The first is pretty straightforward, and not something that most people would think twice about. The headstone beside it bears a “veteran of war” emblem, so a rampant eagle standing atop a pile of cannonballs makes perfect sense.
The second is a little more perplexing. First, it’s one of those tacky push-in-the-ground garden decorations. Of a frog. Frogs are usually associated with fertility, not death. Second, it’s right next to a small headstone that is so old that the inscription is completely worn away. Perhaps the person who put it there knows about or is in some way connected to the occupant?
I think it’s very sweet and just a little bit bizarre. It makes a delightful, whimsical change from the usual plastic flowers.
Grave Decoration, Mount Gilead Cemetery
On Visits With Dead People
Mount Gilead Cemetery
Just a couple of random thoughts that went through my head as I was driving back from cat sitting this morning.
On grave site offerings: There is a discussion in one of the cemetery groups on Flickr, about the tradition of leaving tokens at grave sites. Some of the responses–critical of the practice–were mind boggling in their ignorance and intolerance. The act of leaving small items at grave sites is as old as humankind. There are likely many reasons why people feel compelled to do so, the most obvious to me being the desire to show that the deceased has not been forgotten. When you leave a token–a stone or a coin or a small memento–whether or not you actually knew the person in their lifetime, you are connecting with them. You are saying that you care, and that it mattered that they existed. That’s a pretty basic human need, I think.
You are also connecting with the living who visit the grave. “I was here, and I want you to know that I have not forgotten your loved one.”
On headstone inscriptions: I know it’s tempting to do tracings or rubbings of marker inscriptions, but old stones are fragile. Just touching them can cause damage the stones. And, with very old stones, rubbings won’t do you any good, anyway.
Just as damaging are chalks applied to the stone, in order to increase visual contrast for photographs. Please don’t do that!
Photography is harmless and may actually give you a better chance to retrieve “lost” information from headstones than just looking at them and transcribing them in situ. I have found that inscriptions that were worn to illegibility became readable when I Photoshopped the pictures I took. It may require temporarily darkening or lightening or increasing the contrast, but the results are pretty amazing.
The inscription below is one of the ones I was unable to make out at the grave site. When I got home and started Photoshopping the close-up I’d taken, I was able to piece together the text. And I didn’t have to touch the stone in any way to do so.
Grave Marker, Mount Gilead Cemetery
Beneath this willow weep
a child, a lovely sister sleeps
We know that she is happy
With her angel plumage on
But our hearts are very desolate
When we think that she is gone
Effin’ Car Alarms!
I hate them, I do. Really and truly. It’s bad enough when they go off during “normalish” hours, but 4am? Does anyone ever pay attention to them, anyway? It seems that they are so ubiquitous that it defeats the purpose of having one.
And my new neighbors? Noisy as hell. They also have two out-of-control Pit Bulls, and they have absolutely no common sense about handling the dogs. Across-the-hall neighbor says they let the dogs pee when they’re on the balcony, so it drips down onto her patio. Nice. She also said that she’s seen them bring their dogs to my patio to relieve themselves. I wondered who was leaving the messes, because I did notice, and because I damned well pick up after my own dog. And now I pick up after everyone else’s, too, apparently. I’m sorry, but if you are squeamish about it, the least you could do is take your dog to the far side of the field, instead of right-friggin’-next-to other people’s patios.
Grrr. Across-the-hall neighbor works for the property management company. She said that a 57 year old woman was the one who put in the application, etc., not two college age girls and their boyfriends. She said she was pretty happy, thinking that the new tenant (singular!) would be quiet. Ha! My guess is that the girls’ mother is the one who applied for the apartment and signed all the paperwork. I can sort of understand that, if she’s the one footing the bill, but it seems a little dishonest to sign a lease when you know that you aren’t the one who’s going to be occupying the property.
Serenity now!
Maple Tree, Mount Gilead Cemetery
